Shadows of the Past
by Dr. Bross
Summary: Rioichi Lon moves to ACDC Town and needs a PET for his first day at his new school. He manages to get his hands on a PET containing the Navi, Shadow Man. What will happen when the past catches up to them? The conclusion arrives Chapter 7
1. Chapter 1: Introductions in Order

-Mega Man Battle Network --Shadows of the Past ---Chapter 1: Introductions in Order  
  
Around the time of the Gospel incident, I hadn't been fortunate enough to get a PET in the backwater town I lived in. The town was behind the times and I knew it, reminders came to me everyday in different forms that I was a part of it all. It wasn't until my dad's workplace had him relocated to ACDC Town in Electopia when I had to get one for school, in fact, nearly the whole town operated on a PET. I was Rioichi Lon, or Rio as I preferred to be called. My family had just moved to ACDC Town when the whole mess started...  
  
It was Sunday, a rainy Sunday and I was combing my thin black hair. I liked the way my hair hung down in front of my eyes, it gave a mysterious impression I thought. I had all ready dressed in my usual clothes, some black shorts, blue shirt, and a gray jacket over top. As soon as I stepped out of the bathroom, my mom was waiting there for me in the hall. She had piercing brown eyes that demanded attention and it was a bad move to ignore her, she wasn't afraid to throw a punch.  
  
"Aren't you ready yet? You need to get a PET before Monday, you understand?"  
  
"Yeah, I know, I'm going. Don't worry."  
  
We got a paper via my father's PET his work assigned him, there was an auction, and several of the items up for bid were PETs. This was my chance, but since we had just moved in, there wasn't an alarm clock so the majority of the time I could have spent going toward the auction, I was in the bathroom. By the time I was out of the house and moving toward the bus stop I think the auction was halfway over with. I wouldn't know for sure until I arrived in Dentown Block 1 where the auction was being held. The paper said it was in a warehouse. Yeah, I thought it sounded pretty shady, but my mom assured me earlier that there would be plenty of signs to get me there.  
  
The streets of ACDC Town were barren because of the crappy weather, and so was the bus stop. Luckily, I didn't have to wait long before a bus rolled up and opened up its doors. One thing I wasn't use to in Electopia was all the autopilot transportation. Where I came from, mostly everything was manual. I couldn't help wondering what would happen if the system went haywire or broke down. It didn't take long before the bus dropped me off and onto the rainy streets of Dentown. This place was huge. Even though the paper narrowed it down to one block, I still felt like a mouse in a maze looking for the cheese.  
  
But like my mom told me, there was signs so I quickly located the warehouse and stepped through it's open doors. My heart jumped seeing all the items left for bid, they must have almost begun to wrap it up! I grabbed a program and took a seat near the back and flipped through, sighing in relief that there was still one more PET up for bid. They went through some junk like servers and chips and so forth before they got around to the item I was interested in. Some man in a dark suit brought it up and set it on the table as the auctioneer grabbed his hammer to begin bidding.  
  
I could hardly contain myself and shot my hand up before it even began. Some of the people in front of me looked back with surprised expressions. Even the auctioneer seemed pretty surprised I was bidding. No one else in the room even gave the smallest bit of suspicion they were going to raise their hand and no one did. Not even the auctioneer did his "going, going, gone" routine. My bid? It was a mere 500 zenny, and instantly I felt suspicious. A new guy in town, everyone is acting so surprised I bought this thing, and even the auctioneer is relieved to let this PET go. Yeah, something is definitely going on.  
  
People were clearing out as I fought my way to the front where the auctioneer was organizing some papers. The pudgy, bald guy set his hammer down on the podium and set the papers down on the table next to the PET when I finally got to him.  
  
"So, what's wrong with the PET?" I began sternly.  
  
He looked up as if I asked the stupidest question in the world.  
  
"Nothing's wrong." He answered calmly.  
  
"What do you mean, 'nothing's wrong'? No one else in the room even acted like it existed, and to add on top of it, it's only 500 zenny! It's busted isn't it?"  
  
The guy sighed and took a pen out of his pocket before shoving it into my hand.  
  
"I saw you come in late, so I'll give you a break. The PET used to belong to a mercenary who tried to hack the Mother Comp of Electopia. The Navi inside got all the way to the CPU before being deleted. The mercenary was caught later and everything was taken. You do know this is an Offical Netbattler's auction right? Everything here was confiscated from criminal organizations."  
  
Wow, that was pretty heavy for me to take at the moment. I gave a quick glance toward the PET and looked over it's purple designs. Then I looked back at the guy, angry. If this thing was involved in a huge hacking operation, I wanted no part of it. I just came here, I wasn't looking to get arrested.  
  
"Really? You mean, the Navi I'd be using committed criminal acts? Just what are you trying to do here? Frame me?"  
  
"No no." The guy waved his hand in a frustrated manner. "The entire system of the PET was reformatted. Meaning the Navi's memory was wiped clean. It's completely legal to use this unit... But uh, don't expect other people to forget what it's done."  
  
"I want another one." I demanded.  
  
I think I went to far cause the guy nearly shoved the papers down my throat when he picked them up and threw them at me.  
  
"Look kid, sign the papers, take the PET, and get out!"  
  
Angrily, I scribbled down my name and picked the unit up making an about face and exiting the warehouse. That had taken about fifteen minutes, so I had plenty of time to go home and brood over my new purchase. Involved in hacking a mother computer? Of Electopia? Some reason, I knew I wasn't getting the full story but I really didn't want to think about it. When I got back on the bus, it had people which left me a seat in the back. There was a bunch of people my age and a business woman all working on their own PETs. Suddenly I had an urge to turn mine on, but the speech the guy made about all that criminal stuff, I was scared what I would find.  
  
A mercenary huh? Wonder if he killed anyone? It was guaranteed he deleted plenty of crap, illegally. This was freaking me out. Say I turn this thing on and suddenly I'm wanted for some international incident? The bus jerked coming to a stop at ACDC Town and snapped me out of my trance. I must have been really out of it, cause the business woman and the other people were gone. I headed home when I got off the bus, still looking down at my own PET... Well, maybe it was still that mercenary guy's...  
  
Soon a droplet of rain hit the screen, I put it under my jacket and began to run home as the rain came hammering down on the area. There was no way I was going to find my route to school in this weather. Hm... Maybe I could catch one of the local kids and make a new friend? Then it hit me, I was freaking lost in a freaking small town. None of the houses looked familiar. Nothing did actually. Now I was losing it, maybe I got off on the wrong stop? I took shelter under an overhang of a house and gazed out at the darkened streets, then it hit me.  
  
Maybe this PET thing had a map of the area? Or at least it could find one. I was desperate, so I hesitantly switched it on. The screen came up much like a normal computer desktop with a design of a ninja star in the background, but that's when he popped up scaring me half to death. Didn't think much of it at the time, but he looked really cool. A ninja type navi, with a red scarf and dark purple suit. I think he was looking me over before he said anything and eventually spoke up.  
  
"Greetings, master..." His voice trailed off waiting for a name.  
  
"Rioichi, I mean Rio." I stuttered.  
  
"Master Rio, it is then. I am Shadow Man, your Navi."  
  
Naw... Something didn't sound right the way he addressed me. I had read before that most owners of navis were called operators so I figured maybe he should call me "Operator Rio". That didn't sound right either, sounded like some Datawood Movie. I finally decided on just calling me Rio.  
  
"Hey, Shada... Uh... What was your name again?"  
  
I think he gave a quiet chuckle and then nodded.  
  
"Shadow Man." He told me again.  
  
"Right, Shadow Man, why don't you just call me Rio?"  
  
"Rio? Fine with me."  
  
Now that the introductions were all in order, I decided to get to the situation at hand.  
  
"Hey Shadow Man, I'm kind of lost. Is there some map you can pull up for me or something?"  
  
"Well, yes and no. I could easily pull up a map if I was jacked into a computer."  
  
Hm... He left me in the dust there and I scratched my head trying to figure it all out.  
  
"Confused? There should be a cord you can pull out of the PET, you use that to plug in to jack-in ports. Are you near a bus stop?"  
  
"I just came from one..."  
  
"Go back to it." He ordered me.  
  
Man, his voice was so calm. Kind of cold almost, but at least one of us was thinking straight. I sprinted through the rain and went back to the bus stop. Shadow Man told me to find a port in the booth where the bench was. Least it was dry in there and eventually I found what I was looking for. I plugged it in and told him that I had.  
  
"Good, now just sit tight."  
  
He gave a bow and suddenly the screen changed to show him "inside the net" as I had read before we moved over here. Looked like a pretty big place, he didn't go far before coming up to a scrawny looking green blob. Said it was a program or something and the screen changed back to the desktop set up. Shadow Man was downloading something, eventually a map popped up.  
  
"There's your map, you can use it at any time..."  
  
He stopped in the middle of the sentence and put one of his hands to his chin like he was thinking about something.  
  
"What?"  
  
"This all seems, kind of familiar in a way." He explained slowly.  
  
Now I was kind of hesitant to tell him that he was actually reformatted. Maybe he wouldn't know what that meant? Naw... Shadow Man knew more about PETs and jacking in than I did. He wasn't stupid.  
  
"Well, that happens. De Jevu right?" I told him finally.  
  
"It's not important. We need to get home right? Ok, now jack me out."  
  
Shadow Man was out of the bus network and back in the PET as I hit a button on the screen. It was touch sensitive, neat. He brought up the map and gave me directions when I found out I was in the right town after all. To my relief I got home and went in the front door finally home and out of the rain. I could see mom in the kitchen and she could see me putting down some pans and moving over to me.  
  
"Oh good, you got a navi after all. You were late so I figured you didn't get there in time and had to wonder around the city."  
  
"Oh no, I got it. Pretty good bid too. Only 500 zenny."  
  
She frowned and wiped her hands on her apron.  
  
"Only 500? Is there some sort of defect?" She sounded kind of annoyed.  
  
"Oh no, it's working fine. Say hello Shadow Man." I said offering her the device.  
  
Thinking back, I wish I could have given him some warning about my mom, you know, to be extremely polite or something like that. That she has a short temper, you know, something along those lines.  
  
"Hello. Your son didn't have the time to tell me your family's last name." Shadow Man greeted in a smooth voice.  
  
Crap! Forgot about that back under the house's overhang!  
  
"Mrs. Lon." She informed him.  
  
"Greetings Mrs. Lon, I hope to be of service to your son as well as your family as his Navi." He gave a bow as he spoke.  
  
Well, if there something I could say about Shadow Man right off, he was pretty damn polite and to the point. There was no way you were going to catch him being sarcastic. Eventually she gave it back to me and gave an approving nod.  
  
"Good Rio, you'll be ready for your first day of school tomorrow."  
  
She then moved back towards the kitchen as I moved closer to my room.  
  
"Whew, you handled that perfectly Shadow Man." I sighed.  
  
"Something wrong?" He asked casually.  
  
"My mom is kind of hard to please. She's very..."  
  
"Strict." He finished for me.  
  
I nodded and could see him give another silent laugh.  
  
"They often make the best teachers Rio."  
  
I guess that was true, I never really thought about it that way. I made my way into my room to see it all set up, well the bed and computer and recharging station for the PET my dad received from work as a condition of moving all the way out here. The bed just called to me and I collapsed onto it. My mind wondered back to the fact that Shadow Man was reformatted, used in a hacking scheme a long time ago. The Mother Computer of the country I was living in.  
  
"Shadow Man..." I started slowly. "Do you... remember anything..."  
  
"What would I remember?" He asked instantly catching on to the meaning of my question.  
  
"Well... Your... reformatted... I was told that... well..."  
  
"Something concerning a part of my past that I will never recall? We will cross that bridge when we get to it, but right now. The past it the past. The only thing I am concentrated on is now and the future, Rio." He reassured me.  
  
Well, I slowly set him back on the recharging station and collapsed back into my bed. I think I got lucky getting a navi like him to start out with. Tomorrow would be a whole score of firsts for me, and I guess for Shadow Man too. Perhaps... maybe they might recognize him... But... Naw. 


	2. Chapter 2: Demonstration

-Mega Man Battle Network --Shadows of the Past ---Chapter 2: Demonstrations  
  
During my stay in ACDC Town, I was beginning to like PETs more and more. It seems Shadow Man doubled as an alarm clock as well getting me up at the right time to get ready for school. I got dressed, brushed my teeth, etc. Then went to the table where my breakfast was waiting. Turns out when I went into my room last night, my dad finally came home as well. He was a tall silent guy with a lot of my physical traits only older. Because he was so quiet most of the time, it always made me wonder how he got married to my mom. Their explanation was always, "because we loved each other". I told them they would have to do better than that, and got a laugh.  
  
Dad was sitting at the table reading a paper on his PET. This was the moment I was waiting for. I wanted to show him what I had brought home, and Shadow Man as well. But there was no way I was going to tell them what the auctioneer told me.  
  
"Morning dad. Hey, I wanted to show you my PET I got from that auction."  
  
He looked up from his PET and gave a warm smile. He was always happy to see me. Dad set his down and stood up walking over to me as I did to him. I handed him mine and watched him look over it. Shadow Man did his usual greeting and caused my dad to smile a little bit wider.  
  
"Frankly, I'm surprised son. You got a customized Navi, that's usually pretty pricey up here, but you got a deal. Must be my business sense rubbing off on you."  
  
I couldn't help but simile as well, he must have been in one of his good moods cause he barely ever went out of the way to brag like that. Mom soon got us concentrated back on breakfast and we ate at our new table, in our new house. Well, it was nice while it lasted, cause I had to go to school now. But it was a short walk, just up the street and through some gates. Kind of reminded me of my old school, but they didn't have PETs and I had to climb up a bunch of hills.  
  
"So, Shadow Man. Do you know anything about this school?"  
  
"No." He answered frankly. "I'm going to it for the first time, like you."  
  
That was kind of reassuring. I wonder if the teacher will do one of those "here's our new student, say hi to him" kind of routine. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for talking but I feel put on the spot when they do that, like I'm supposed to perform a trick or something. By the time I got up to the gates, there was a bunch of people entering the building of all ages and shapes. Why shapes? Cause there was this huge guy walking along with these three other people. Frankly, I was kind of intimidated and the way I heard him talk made it sound like he knew it too.  
  
My room was upstairs, in the room with the big guy I mentioned earlier. Damn, that made me a little uneasy. The teacher was Ms. Mari and she instantly wanted to see me before school started talking to me right outside the door.  
  
"Hello, Rioichi. Your our new student huh?" She greeted in a gentle voice. "I'm Ms. Mari, your teacher."  
  
"Hello," I started slowly. "But, could you call me Rio?"  
  
"Of course, Rio it is then. Let me introduce you to the class."  
  
Well, I guess I predicted right. Couldn't be too bad could it? She opened the door and led me in standing me in front of the class. I could see that big scary guy sitting behind a cute looking girl who was walking with him to school. To the left of her was another guy who was part of their group with a bandana and looking overall pretty friendly. The last member was in the back of the room, pretty small but still looking pretty mean. Hm... Maybe I should try becoming friends with them?  
  
During my scheming, I had completely ignored Mr. Mari's presentation about the "new kid" and suddenly found myself standing with every eye on me. So I wasn't paying attention, I really didn't know where we were in the scheme of things.  
  
"Say your name." Shadow Man whispered.  
  
"I'm Rioichi Lon, but uh... You can call me Rio. This is kinda new for me. I've actually never been in a town that depends upon PETs. I just got mine yesterday..."  
  
I rambled on like a crazy man, I knew it. But I couldn't stop. Giving a quick glance down I could see Shadow Man in one of his silent laughs. I would have smacked him, uh... If I knew what button you would press to do that. Ms. Mari eventually called me off and sent me to my seat, behind the bandana guy and next to the big scary one. Not my most favored seat in the house. The first exercise was virus busting exercises. Virus busting? This I had to see. During the time I was jacking-in Shadow Man, big scary guy was giving me all kinds of looks, like he wanted to start something. I really didn't look forward to the end of class.  
  
Anyway, through the screen on my desk I could see the other people's Navis. Some people had plain ones like my dad. But there was other customized Navis as well. The girl in front of the scary guy had a pink Navi, next to her was a blue looking one. And I gulped seeing the hulking Navi that the big guy had. I noticed though, that Shadow Man had his arms crossed like he didn't want to be there.  
  
"What's wrong?" I asked him.  
  
"I can't possibly begin to tell you how uninterested I am in these exercises."  
  
Like I said, to the point always.  
  
"Well, make it quick and you won't have to worry about them."  
  
While I was coaxing Shadow Man into following along with the class. I could see the other Navis taking quick glances at him. Some seemed interested, and some, like that blue one seemed deeply disturbed seeing Shadow Man standing there. I admit, he looks kind of sinister, but then so does that huge guy. Frankly, I would be more concerned about him. Finally it was my turn to bust a Metool virus. Some little thing with a hardhat on and carrying a big pick ax. All eyes were on me, but Shadow Man wasn't going to have any part of it.  
  
"Come on, come on. Just delete it all ready." I asked again, this time with a little more encouragement.  
  
"Fine." He gave in.  
  
With a flick of the wrist and the appearance of a dangerous looking ninja star, he tossed it and cut the virus in half within seconds. After words he calmly explained to me that they were called Shadow Blades. Wow, it was so fast I think I had to do a double take. And he was still standing there with his arms crossed looking as uninterested as ever.  
  
"Wow, that was a great job Rio." Ms. Mari congratulated. "Have you done this before?"  
  
No, I haven't. And as far as Shadow Man's concern neither did he. I got a little nervous. Maybe his previous abilities gained from his criminal experiences weren't erased during the reformatting? The rest of the class period was uneventful, but I couldn't get that lighting quick motion out of my head. It seemed the guy in front of me with the blue Navi couldn't either looking back and muttering to his own Navi. Why did I suddenly feel like I was being ganged up on?  
  
My suspicions were confirmed as a bunch of people came up to me. But none of the group I was hoping to join. They asked me a bunch of questions like where I moved from or what I did without a PET. Some asked about Shadow Man and I responded that I was honestly as surprised as they were about his virus busting abilities. After that, the huge guy and the rest of the gang came up to me.  
  
"So, your the new guy huh? I'm Dex! And me and Guts Man like to welcome all the new guys with a Netbattle!"  
  
"I'm sorry... A what?"  
  
I heard him right, a netbattle. What the hell was that? And why did it sound so dangerous? Personally, I didn't like walking into things I knew nothing about, but this Dex guy was pushing me, if not full out shoving.  
  
"A Netbattle. It's a show of immaturity at its best. Your Navis face each other in a friendly battle. No harm done." A little girl to the right of Dex explained. "Oh by the way, I'm Yai. But you can call me Miss Yai."  
  
"Ok, Miss Yai."  
  
Heh heh, I made her blush. I bet she didn't see that coming. But Dex took the spotlight again taking a step forward and holding his PET in his hand. The other two kept their distance, I wonder what they were waiting for? Probably for Dex here to move, he was huge! A truck I tell you. Now he wanted me to fight his lumbering Guts Man.  
  
"Hold on for a sec... Hey Shadow Man, do you think it's a good idea fighting this Dex guy?"  
  
"Chances are that if you don't fight him. He won't respect you." Shadow Man answered simply. "Fighting is the only way to prove one's worth in a world like this."  
  
Thanks a lot. I was looking for something along the lines of. Maybe you should take a number? Or, I don't feel like it. Something to get the incredible hulk away from me and off my back.  
  
"Uh... Ok..." I answered finally.  
  
"All right! Time to get a pounding!" He laughed.  
  
"What if you get deleted or something? I've only known you for a day." I tried to reason with him.  
  
There was another uncomfortable feeling. Why did I feel like he had more control than I did? His position remained unchanged.  
  
"Then you'll run backup data and I'll be restored. It will take time you understand."  
  
"Yeah I guess so."  
  
Dex was getting impatient.  
  
"Come on! Enough talking all ready! Let's go!"  
  
We jacked into Yai's desk, with her permission of course and entered the virtual class room. Shadow Man was in first, and the huge Navi Guts Man was in second. It looked like if Shadow Man was touched once he'd be done for.  
  
"Guts! Guts! Guts! Time to get smashed!" Guts Man laughed cruelly.  
  
"What ever you say..."  
  
Shadow Man wasn't impressed obviously.  
  
"You can take the first shot." He said again.  
  
Now that was just plain crazy and Dex gave a cruel smile hearing it. Guts Man shuffled up to Shadow and brought his fists up into the air with another deep laugh before bringing them down. Shadow Man didn't move an inch and I cringed. But surprisingly enough, Guts Man's fist went right through Shadow Man and created a hole in the ground. I'm just plain confused, and it only gets more confusing when two other Shadow Man's come out of no where and surround Guts Man. Three of them? This had to be one of his programs or something.  
  
Anyway, Guts Man was spinning around and the three Shadow Men just taunted him. He threw punches at one and tumbled right through, just like the other one. I was learning with Guts Man, now I knew the remaining one had to be real. But he didn't let Guts Man take another swing and leaped up into the air letting fly three gargantuan Shadow Blades as they went right into Guts's back making a buzz saw sound as they went. I could see Dex's eyes nearly pop out as his Navi began to stumble around like a wounded animal. I never figured I would feel sorry for him.  
  
But my Navi didn't stop there, oh no. The other two doubles had drawn swords and began to close in on Guts Man. Dex shouted something and pulled a chip from his pocket.  
  
"Don't worry Guts Man, I got something that will help right here." He laughed.  
  
"Hey? What's going on?"  
  
Then just like that, Guts Man looked completely healed and he decided to pound the ground again this time sending out a shockwave that ripped the two doubles into shreds and leaving nothingness.  
  
"Your cheating!" I declared only causing him to laugh.  
  
"Battle chips aren't cheating kid."  
  
Ok, now I wanted Shadow Man to hang his Navi's head on the mantel.  
  
"All right Shadow Man, enough play. Take him out!" I think I yelled just a bit too angrily.  
  
"As you wish." He replied in a cruel manner.  
  
Now it was on, and I could sense it. I hope that big lug Dex could too. Cause the three Shadow Man routine returned and they didn't stay still. They leapt about and drew their swords taking swings at Guts Man as they went. But he threw his punches around like tossing seeds and quickly sent one of the doubles into submission. It dissipated and out of the smoke came more Shadow Blades this time pegging Guts Man in the face. I couldn't help forming a smile and taking in more of the delicious action. The three Shadow Men were dancing around Guts Man and carving him up like a Thanksgiving turkey.  
  
"Oh! Ow! OW! Stop with the swords!" Guts Man cried out before swinging his fist wildly.  
  
It was so close that he easily creamed all three causing the two fakes to disappear and leaving the real Shadow Man to go sliding across the battlefield. Then he didn't move and I lost my smile.  
  
"Seems like your Navi can dish it out but can't take it in!"  
  
There was a moment of silence as Guts Man trudging up to Shadow Man with a satisfied grin. But when he looked down he seemed shocked and we all saw why. He jumped backwards as Shadow Man leapt up onto him and locked Guts' head between his legs and brought his sword up bringing it down and striking Guts Man over and over again. Up and down, up and down, I nearly got dizzy. Soon Dex's voice penetrated the hypnotic moment of Shadow Man's sword.  
  
"Stop it! You won all ready! Cut it out!"  
  
"Shadow Man, stop!" I commanded finally.  
  
I was partially afraid he would keep going but he stopped and slid the sword back into his scabbard. He still had Guts' head locked in-between his legs and then somersaulted backwards tossing the hulking Guts Man at the same time. I heard a loud plunk and then watched as he was jacked out. Even though I won, I felt pretty bad. Shadow Man actually looked like he enjoyed it. By the time I jacked Shadow Man out and looked up, there was no one left around me. They had all left as soon as Dex did. Somehow I felt like I had alienated myself from everyone else and I looked back down at him.  
  
"What's wrong Rio?" He asked calmly, but I knew I couldn't answer. 


	3. Chapter 3: Investigations

-Mega Man Battle Network

--Shadows of the Past

---Chapter 3: Investigations

_"Dark... This is mortifying!"_

I woke up instantly as I heard someone speak. I looked toward my new alarm clock to see the time, three in the morning, and Shadow Man was still recharging... Well, maybe he wasn't as I looked up. I could see he was leaning back with his head down. It reminded me of the day he thought he found something familiar. He showed all the signs of being asleep but soon spoke up.

"You have e-mail." He told me suddenly.

"What?" I asked getting up slowly.

He nodded and brought the message up. It was addressed from World Wide Watchers Inc., who ever they were, but that wasn't the strangest part. The e-mail continued a request, a request to delete someone. My mouth dropped open upon reading further when it gave out a name, Lan Hikari. I was partially relived to find that the message was not addressed to me personally, but was sent out to a bunch of people. The end of the message read mysteriously "all active units report" as it's finale.

"Would you like to reply?" Shadow Man asked.

"Yeah, ask them who the hell they are." I replied groggily, this was way to early.

He gave a bow and went off with the reply message as I got out of my bed and pulled a chair up to the computer. I began to search "World Wide Watchers Inc.", but I found nothing. Must have been an alias, it had to be.

"Rio, this address is no longer in service." He reported.

"How is that possible? I just got e-mail from that address!"

It was an unanswerable question which I knew, and Shadow Man knew too simply shrugging his shoulders. But who ever Lan was, he was in danger.

"Hey Shadow Man, do you know anyone named Lan?"

I watched him go into his thought routine and I tried to think of someone named Lan too. Hell, I went so far as to think back to my old town. It was a long shot, but I had to warn this guy. He was marked. Eventually he looked up and shrugged again.

"It sounds vaguely familiar... But I don't know anyone with that name."

Great, I had accidentally received an e-mail asking to kill someone, but I couldn't even warn the guy who was targeted. At the time, there was an ungodly amount of things I could have done at this point when I received that e-mail, but the whole situation blinded me from thinking about anything else.

"What if we check history records, or the news. Perhaps he is an important figure?"

That was a plan, and I would check it out during study hall after lunch when I went back to school tomorrow. But right now, I had to get back to sleep. I said good night and got back in bed, but I was still wondering about that e-mail until I fell back asleep. Not to mention what woke me up in the first place. Too bad I recalled it when I was drifting back into dream land. I would remember exactly squat when I woke up for school.

In the morning when I was heading out the door, Shadow Man notified me of four new e-mails. I asked him to open them hurriedly thinking it was from World Wide Watchers Inc again, but it wasn't to my disappointment. This time the e-mail was from that group that met me after school. One was from Dex, he said he wanted to talk to me again and he had to run home to watch the house. That was kinda lame, I think it's because Shadow Man wiped the floor with his Guts Man. One was from Yai, oh, I mean MISS Yai. She said she wanted to see me after school again as well, her excuse was that she was late for a diamond show or something. Diamond show?

The other two e-mails I didn't recognize when I opened them. Not right away really. One was from that cute girl at school, her name was Mayl. It was basically the same story as before, still with a weak excuse for running off. The last one however, was much more interesting. It was the guy with the bandana, he wanted to talk to me about Shadow Man and my PET. You should have seen my eyes when I caught his name at the bottom of the message. Lan... Lan... Could it be him?

I wanted to run up and tell him everything, to get down and watch your back and everything! My mind was running a million miles an hour and luckily before I did something stupid, Shadow Man talked me down.

"Rio! Stop! He's your age! Why would someone want to kill an elementary student? It's so dishonorable..."

I began to slow my sprint and thought about it. That was true... It was probably an coincidence that he had the first name of Lan. But no way! I thought again. It's TOO coincidental! I had to warn him. I told Shadow Man that too, but he still continued on with his reasoning.

"Should I repeat myself? Rio, he is YOUR age. What could he have possibly done to gain a warrant for his death? What? Tell me and I'll support you fully."

"Well, err... Uh... he could have... Hm... I guess I see your point. But still! Shouldn't we get his last name before we drop this? It could be a matter of life or death!"

That was my big selling point for Shadow Man. Still... What if... What if... I could see it drove him crazy. I think he hated those words or something.

"It is my personal experience to never live on uncertainty..." His words trailed off into nothing.

I stopped in the middle of the street and looked down at the screen. What personal experience? Was he remembering? Did the reformatting miss some data that still linked him to his past in there? It was like amnesia, but not, because you knew you didn't remember for a reason... This was crazy, I wish I could have pretended I never heard that.

"Uh..." He sounded unsure of himself now. "We could always watch him, just in case."

"All right, now that's a good compromise."

"We'll meet him after school and sort this whole mess out." Shadow Man declared with more confidence than before. "I'll help you on the spying part. Certain areas of my programming specialize in shadowing someone."

"Hence, Shadow Man!" I laughed at my cheesy joke.

At that point, I think I needed every cheesy joke in the world to drag my mind away from what he said before. Personal experience... Then the gates of the school filled me with more confidence. I thought back to the four e-mails. I was gonna make some more friends today! Yeah! That reminded me, as soon as I figured out how they send regular mail in this town, I was gonna send letters to my friends back at my old town.

In class, I listened to Shadow Man. God, he had a lot to say. Don't stare, glance periodically. Always think of an excuse if your caught. Down look down when you tell them, they know your lying. Smile if they look up at you when you take a glance. Create distractions or reasons for looking at them. Eventually I told him thanks for the info, but I would try on my own thank you very much. Lan in front of me only gave a wave when I entered but never took another glance. With all this shadowing stuff going on, I almost forgot about researching the possibility of the real Lan Hikari.

I went to work right after lunch checking out all sorts of "Lan" people all across the world. There was a lot, you wouldn't think so, but I guess it was as popular as Smith, or Jones. Half way through my search, making Shadow Man run from point A to point B, I looked up to find Lan was gone! Holy frick! I had totally forgotten about him.

"Shadow Man! I lost sight of him!"

He gave a frustrated mutter and an agonized glance at me. I guess I deserved that, I didn't really show I appreciated his help before. I got up only to be stopped by Ms. Mari who asked where I thought I was going.

"Oh, I know Ms. Mari. I'm going to the bathroom."

Score one for me in lying point blank to people! She totally bought it. Err... at least I think so, I didn't really spend much time trying to tell as I went out into the halls and began to causally roll by classrooms trying to find out where he went.

"Rio, stop walking. Start thinking!" Shadow Man urged me.

"What do you mean by that? I am thinking! Where could he have gone?"

"The library, where else could he have gone?"

Hm... Minus one for the home team. I never really thought about the places he could have gone. Looking in other classrooms was a waste of time I guess. Lucky for me, I had an airtight excuse. New to the school, didn't know where everything was. Ha ha! Anyway, I went on over to the library and peeked through the crack in the door spotting Lan sitting there with Mayl. Your probably wondering if this bothered me seeing them together, not really. I uh... had a thing for someone else at that point.

"Well, found em'. Looks pretty safe to me." I whispered to Shadow Man.

"Good, now get back to class."

"Hold on just a second Mr. Sneaky. How bout I go ask him about his last name now?"

He didn't have anything against that, he just told me to hurry it up so my bathroom story worked out in the end. I pressed on the door, and it didn't budge. I'm glad you didn't see me for yourself, cause I went smack right into it. For his sake, Shadow Man didn't say anything as I stumbled back and looked up and down the halls to check if anyone noticed my idiotic behavior. Good, my dignity was in tact. After that rather embarrassing moment, I moseyed on down to the second door and tried it. 

This time, I pushed with my hand instead of my body. Now it was time to worry, it was locked too. Next thing I knew, I heard a crackling sound and a bunch of people inside scream weakly. Weakly because the doors were shut tight, keeping any type of really loud noise getting out. I stepped back and kicked the door. That wasn't very smart. I'm not doing that again on a door shut so tight. My leg was throbbing as smoke began to seep out of the cracks, but too weak to attract much attention.

"Uh... Shadow Man... It looks like there's something going on here. Smoke from the door and a crackling sound..."

He interrupted me immediately.

"Fire! And they can't get out! Rio, find a fire alarm and pull it!"

I moved as fast as my throbbing leg could carry me to a square panel and smashed the glass. With a big tug I yanked the thing down, but nothing happened. I pushed it up and pulled again, still nothing.

"Uh. Shadow Man, the alarm systems aren't working!" I reported urgently.

"What about the smoke has it stopped yet?"

I glanced over, nope, still more smoke pouring from the cracks. That means the sprinklers weren't working either! They were gonna be smothered! Then I got my, why-didn't-you-do-it-before idea. Jack in! That way Shadow Man can fix this broken piece of crap.

"Shadow Man, I'm jacking you in! You have to do... something!"

"I'll reset the systems." He finished.

Instantly he was inside and I could see the fire alarm network. It was messed up. In the background there was flame decorations rising up and down. This was a text book virus attack. Everything was warped out of it's original programming. Shadow Man dashed long the winding system corridors searching for the corrupted program. Man, there was a bunch of those little virus suckers from before. Crawling all over the place. We decided on busting some of them, maybe they were the cause? But no, it was something more.

As he continued through the network, I looked back to the library doors. More smoke, they could be dead by the time the fire department would show up. Maybe my jack in idea wasn't too good after all. There was so many of those virus suckers appearing that Shadow Man had to move on further into the network. Then I got an idea.

"Shadow Man! Try to find the sprinkler program. It won't get rid of the smoke, but it will buy us some time!"

"Right."

He took a detour and moved along until I could notice some crank wheels. They were all jammed by a funky vice grip looking things. When he tried to remove it, viruses showed up all over the place. I knew it now, this was organized. This was the Lan they wanted to kill! But why? Shadow Man asked me before, what could he have possibly done... Luckily with his skills he took care of them quickly and turned the wheels. I moved over to the library door and pressed my ear up against the door hearing a soft swish sound. Soon water began to seep through the bottom crack out into the hall.

"All right!" I yelled out and went back to the alarm system.

"Um... Now, what about the alarm?" I asked him.

"Working on it."

Before he could take another step, a huge wall of flames just whizzed past his head. In reflex, I guess, he leapt backwards and drew his sword while looking for the source of the flames. This red looking Navi stepped out from behind a big block and moved toward Shadow Man slowly. You could tell in an instant, this guy was all about fire, and all about business. Plenty of flames were all ready pouring out of his arms and the top of his head and he paused upon seeing Shadow Man standing there with his sword drawn.

"Shadow Man? What are you doing here? You've come to steal our assignment haven't you?"

Uh oh... This guy recognized Shadow Man. Definitely not good. Maybe he worked with this guy before? Crap...

"Hm... I suppose your trying to delete Lan Hikari?"

"Of course I am! Why would I be caught dead in an elementary fire alarm system in the first place?"

"Then your going to be awfully disappointed with the outcome of your plan."

"I knew it!" Fire Man lashed out. "Your operator is always taking all the good jobs! Well, not this time! If I don't pull through, I'll be deleted for good! I'll be history."

"You would have to be known before becoming history." Shadow Man continued in a deadly serious tone.

Suddenly another voice broke our conversation. The other guy's operator I could only assume. He had an awfully persuasive voice, it sounded like he could talk you into believing just about anything.

"Fire Man! What's going on? Why haven't you restarted the electrical fires yet? And will your turn off that damn sprinkler system!"

"Sorry Mr. Match. It's just that Mr. Dark and Shadow Man are here trying to take credit for all our hard work!"

Mr. Dark? Was that Shadow Man's previous operator? Why did it seem like I heard that name before... I looked at Shadow Man trying to tell if Fire Man's words were ringing any bells that should have stayed quiet. But I couldn't tell anything. Fire Man's fiery arms flared up and began to burn bigger than before and he took another step toward Shadow Man.

"Well, too bad! Delete Shadow Man and tell Mr. Dark we got here first!" Mr. Match ordered smoothly before going silent again.

Without saying another word, Fire Man kneeled down and suddenly launched a firestorm toward Shadow Man. That fire was huge, I was pretty glad it was all virtual. He stopped launching his flames when Shadow Man darted to the side and began to run toward him. He leapt up into the air and brought his sword down slicing off Fire Man's right arm causing it to melt into deleted data. I heard a click and looked over toward the library doors, people came running out coughing and gasping for fresh air. Smoke poured out as well, then I saw Lan and Mayl run out with their jackets over their mouths.

Once I could tell they came out all right I turned back to my PET. Even with one arm missing, Fire Man could still easily conger up a dangerous amount of flames. He spread them all over the place as Shadow Man darted from here to there. Soon Shadow Man was doing a dead sprint toward Fire Man with his sword drawn. Just as I expected, Fire Man pointed his remaining arm and let loose another firestorm. But he missed as the agile Shadow Man leapt over him.

But as he did, he was right over Fire Man's head and I should have seen it coming. Fire Man's head exploded into a fury sending a tower of flames upward frying him in mid air. Then I knew we had bitten off more than we could chew as Shadow Man went tumbling to a halt with burns all over his body and his sword sliding across the ground away from him. I gripped my PET watching Shadow Man attempt to get up but he was too weak. Fire Man then began to stomp on him while he was down.

"You like that? You like that you cocky little freak!" Fire Man yelled out.

"Hold on! I'll get you out!" I cried out.

I pressed the jack out button frantically, but nothing happened. There must have been something Mr. Match did to make sure I couldn't get him out before he was deleted. Damn! I was dying watching him get hit like that unable to do anything back, but it was Shadow Man who was really dying. Suddenly I could see two Navis appear in the network, the blue navi and the pink one belonging to Lan and Mayl. I looked up to see that they had jacked in as well.

"Don't worry," Lan began. "Mega Man and Roll will help you out."

Mega Man huh? That was the blue guy... and Roll was the pink one. Easy enough. I nodded and looked back at the screen. Mega Man wasted no time firing on Fire Man and getting him away from Shadow Man who couldn't move he had been damaged so much. While Mega Man was making a distraction, Roll went over and did something to heal him enough that he could move. Now with that all solved, I could watch Mega Man's virus busing action. And I thought Shadow Man was good, Lan's Navi was unstoppable.

"What the hell are you doing here! Oh no! The doors..." Fire Man realized. "Suck flames and get deleted!"

Lan had pulled one of those battle thingies that Dex used and put it in his PET. Instantly Mega Man's arm changed shape into a huge cannon. He opened fire and blasted Fire Man square in the chest. The blast sent him flying backwards and rolling across the ground like a barrel. When he got up it was easy to see that he was going to jack-out, but I suddenly got an idea.

"Shadow Man, hit him before he gets out!"

Wearily, Shadow Man managed to get a Shadow Blade or two ready and tossed them at Fire Man's back. The end result was instant deletion as the fiery Navi burst into explosion and bled away into nothing. Now that I was content, I went to jacking Shadow Man out and soon turned to see a whole bunch of people moving toward the exits. The alarms were finally going off and I noticed Lan and Mayl giving me suspicious glances.

"Why did Shadow Man save us?" Lan asked before I could say anything.

"Why shouldn't he?" I fired back.

Then I remembered, he had almost turned their whole country upside down.


	4. Chapter 4: Sudden Overdrive

-Mega Man Battle Network

--Shadows of the Past

---Chapter 4: Sudden Overdrive

There was a lot to discuss after everyone evacuated the building and stood out in the parking lot. Firefighters arrived and began to put out the blaze as I fought my way through crowds trying to reach Lan and the rest of them. When I did find them, I explained everything about the e-mail I got and how I got Shadow Man in the first place. Boy, you'd think I stole a truck full of gold when I told everything that happened at the auction.

"...and that's why, I guess." I finished after my story. "I knew it would be pretty difficult running in to people who knew him from before. But it was the only PET I could find."

Lan kept a steady gaze on my PET.

"It's like he gets a second chance at life." He told me.

I don't know if anyone else could tell, but I knew Lan probably knew all there was to tell about what Shadow Man did when he was still the mercenary's Navi. Mr. Dark I think that Fire Man guy called him? But I didn't really want to hear it, I didn't want to think about it. Like Shadow Man said before, the past was in the past and that's all there is to it.

"So this address is from World Wide Watchers Inc.? I've never heard of a company like that and my father knows all the major corporations of the world." Yai stated.

"Maybe they're new?" Mayl suggested. "You should take a look in to it. Try to find out who's trying to get rid of Lan."

"Well who ever it is better watch out! No one's getting rid of Lan until I beat him with Guts man!" Dex declared.

Well Dex sounded pretty concerned for Lan's life. Now I had a problem taking my eyes off of him. What if that Mr... what ever his name was tries to get Lan again? I couldn't let him get knocked off. I just got to know the guy under extreme circumstances, not to mention all the hard work it took to save him. Soon an announcement from the school filled the air.

"Attention students and staff! Due to the recent fires, an inspection of the schools network is presently underway. Classes for the rest of the day are canceled."

A cheer escaped from the younger students who had no idea what was going on.

"Well, that wraps up a stressful day." Mayl said breaking the silence. "We should go home and get some rest."

The rest agreed with a nod and began to move off toward their houses. I could only look at Lan trying to choke some words out about all the concern I had for him now. I guess it was easy to see this cause he gave a cheerful smile and put a hand on my shoulder.

"Hey Rio, don't worry. Now that Mega Man and I know what's going on. We'll keep a look out for anything suspicious."

As he began to move away, he turned back toward me and snapped his fingers in realization of something.

"Hey! I know what you should do. You should go see Mr. Higsby for some battle chips. They're real handy in a tight spot."

Oh yeah, I saw that shop when I came off the bus the day I got Shadow Man. Quickly, before he was out of sight I yelled thanks and watched as he waved back. I moved back to the open gates as people began to leave the school parking lot and began heading home. That would be a good way to spend the rest of the day. Dex and Lan used some and they did some pretty cool stuff, that would be great for Shadow Man. Suddenly I noticed a red car pull up and it stopped in front of me. It was my dad. His car was really small, just a step up from a golf cart size but still pretty roomy. I think it was a company car too.

"Rio! I saw the smoke and knew it was the school. What's going on?" He asked me frantically.

"Oh, there was just a little fire..."

There was no way I was going to explain to him what really went on. That I stumbled upon a murder plot and got caught up in the mess as well. He did a really long hug and soon turned back toward the car.

"Here, I'll take you home before I go to work. You can tell me all about it."

Seemed fair enough, I would just have to make my lie bigger as I went along. That was about the time I realized that Shadow Man had been completely silent this whole time. Something was wrong. When I slipped into the passenger seat I picked up the PET and looked at the screen. Shadow Man was there, but he was sitting down cross legged and looking away from me. I remember my dad getting in and then pausing to check for something before getting back out.

"Hold on son, I dropped my pen outside."

That was one thing I knew about my dad. Rule number one, don't touch the pen. A silver sleek writing utensil that my dad carried around for as long as I remembered. He didn't need it as much out here with all the present technology, so now it was his good luck charm. Now was my time to see what was going on with Shadow Man.

"Shadow Man, what's going on? You haven't said a word since I've jacked you out of the alarm system."

"I've failed you Rio... I'm terribly sorry... I had no idea what Fire Man was capable of."

Jeez, is that what he's so crushed about? I'm just glad he didn't get deleted or anything. I thought it was stupid, but maybe he had some code of honor business going on. That would explain why he's always so serious and unwilling to joke around.

"Don't look at it that way. You kept a lot of people from being smothered by smoke. We'll be prepared next time, I'm gonna go to the battle chips store."

This seemed to cheer him up just a bit and I was feeling a little better too. Dad was just about to get back into the car when the seatbelt tightened up around me causing me to drop my PET in shock. The doors slammed shut and the windows rolled up as I heard a squeal roar from the tires of the car. Next thing I knew the car was rocketing along, building speed and leaving my dad in the dust. The seat belt was so tight, I could hardly breathe and I tried desperately to free myself from the death grip of the seat belt.

You should have saw my eyes bulge when I spotted a truck backing out of a garage ahead of us. I couldn't reach the wheel. The car was going to turn into a mangled wreck, and me as the bloody pulp in-between the metal. Then the wheel turned and caused the car to swerve out of the way. The wheel turned again making the car swing in the opposite direction and sped down one of the streets of ACDC town.

"Welcome race fans to! World Wide Watchers Inc. sponsored, _RACE OF DEATH_!" A rapid voice came out of the radio. "Our contestant today is some kid who spoiled our plans! How does it feel to be at the mercy of a mad virus?"

Even if I wanted to talk, the seat belt was suffocating me. I would die of lack of oxygen before the car hit anything.

"Yes well, it's hard to talk when your body is being crushed like an aluminum can! You see kid, we're not to be messed with." The voice turned cold and cruel. "Hasn't your mom ever told you? Don't mess with dangerous people!"

Slowly, I was working the seatbelt over my head and behind me so I could take a breath in. Soon as I did that, the car sped right through someone's yard smashing through picketed fences and flattening rose bushes. Dirt flew up into the windshield and the wipers activated immediately. Now the car was heading toward a white house with a blue roof and I could see Lan heading toward it. It was going to be a hit and run!

I wrestled with the safety buckle and climbed into the drivers seat before fastening the seat belt again for my own protection should the virus decide to crash the car. Hesitantly I grabbed the wheel and yanked it to the left barely missing Lan and rocketing down another street. In the rear view mirrors, I could see him look on with a shocked face.

"Ohhh... So you want to do the driving eh? Well fine with me. You provide the steering, and I'll provide the _SPEED_!"

I could see the speedometer jump up to a 110 miles per hour and I desperately tried to find some place where I could just go straight or something. No dice. The bus was coming in and I was heading straight for it. When I went to turn the wheel it didn't budge. I tried harder and the twisted voice came out again.

"Well, you can't steer if you can't turn it. Forgot to mention that little detail."

Then as if to play with my head, the virus released the lock on the wheel and I turned it hard sending the car spinning around like a top. I missed the bus and tore through the yard of a yellow looking house. When the car straightened out it ceased to move and I suddenly realized why. The car was now sitting on above ground metro line tracks.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, our poor, poor hero has mere minutes before the two-seventeen splits his car like a Ginsu knife through a potato!"

As bad as his announcing was, he wasn't kidding. It was now 2:15! I tried the doors desperately and in my rush to save myself I nearly forgot about my PET and Shadow Man. Once the doors refused to budge, I scooped the PET up and looked down desperately at him.

"Shadow Man! The cars going nuts! The same people who tried to get Lan are after me!"

"Jack me in!" He demanded.

I stretched the cord out and looked around for a port. But before I could locate one the car took off down the tracks and toward the oncoming train which blew it's horn in warning. The car swereved and began to head toward a tunnel chasing after a metro train. As soon as that train stopped we'd slam right into the back of it!

"Your cheating!" The voice sang from the radio. "We have a way with dealing with cheaters... Instant death!"

Eventually I slammed the chord into the port and jacked Shadow Man into the car network. Revving engines and tail pipe exhaust made up the background as every place of the car looked like some twisted race track. Virus reformatting obviously. I never saw Shadow Man move so fast before, he blazed past the little virus cannon fodder trying to find the wheel controls. We were getting close to the tunnel, if the car went in there, we were gone for sure. I looked down to make a quick check on Shadow Man's progress when he yelled out to me.

"Turn the wheel, now!"

I yanked it back toward the town and the car did a power slide back onto the asphalt road. We had avoided the train, but were still moving along at insane speeds. I weaved through the light traffic. I couldn't even look down to see what had happened with Shadow Man. Then I noticed an on ramp and rocketed up it heading south. The signs I read said Marine Harbor. Crap, I had never heard of that place, so when I did stop this car, I would be completely lost. The road had straightened out and there wasn't any cars I would ram, so I quickly looked back down at the PET in my lap. Shadow Man had found his way to the accelerator program and found it completely abandoned by viruses.

"Shadow Man! Be careful, the virus is there! I can't slow the car down!"

"Don't worry, I won't fail you this time..." He vowed.

Right now, I wouldn't care if he was the weakest Navi in the world. I just wanted him to stop the car! The green thingy that was identified as the accelerator program was quivering in a corner with its systems at full tilt. That reminded me that the cars speed was still climbing. 125 miles per hour! I don't think this car could take much more punishment. Before Shadow Man could talk the program down from its acceleration spree an Indy car roared onto the scene and nearly flattened him in the process.

With quick reflexes, Shadow Man had avoided the speeding car by leaping up into the air and landed back down on the ground watching as the Indy car soon transformed to a humanoid shape with an engine block in its chest. When it turned around I could see the mirrored shades and racing stripes along the arms and legs with a twin set of huge exhaust pipes jutting from his back. This guy looked hard core. His engine rumbled as he glared at Shadow Man and balled his fists.

"There's no pit stops scheduled here! You interfering with the race!"

"Just what the hell is the race against anyway?" Shadow Man demanded drawing Shadow Blades.

"It's a race against death. It's a race against me, Turbo Man! Ha ha ha!" He laughed maniacally. "If your smart, you should tell your operator to back off before something unfortunate happens to him or his family!"

Without another word, Shadow Man chucked his blades at Turbo Man getting one to stick him in the arm. Flames roared from the exhaust pipes as he darted to the side and pulled the object from his arm. He went back into his Indy car form and revved up as Shadow Man split into three.

"A diversion is no good if they can all be taken out with one shot!"

There was a ear piercing squeal as Turbo Man did a burn out and sped toward the Shadow Men. All three of were ready to jump until a huge fire trial erupted from the exhaust pipes making it impossible to leap over him without getting fried. The two copies didn't move and were incinerated, but the real Shadow Man pounced on Turbo Man grabbing hold of his air intake valves on the top of the engine.

"Hey! There's no free rides!" Turbo Man hissed. "Get your own car!"

He turned back into his robot form during his speeding and launched Shadow Man across the room. Instead of hitting the wall and getting demolished like I expected, he landed on it feet first and pushed off heading back toward Turbo Man. Instantly he drove his sword right through his chest and caused a backfire to erupt within Turbo Man's engine. There was a satisfying slice as Shadow Man yanked his sword out and caused the hotrod Navi to jerk in pain as more backfires went off within his engine. If I didn't know better, it sounded like he was going to explode, but he didn't and soon jacked out, not before giving me a warning.

"No- *Boom* it! *Boom* Time to burn! You enjoy your lengthened life sp- *Boom*. Aw jack- *Boom* ut! We'll be right back at cha!"

Now I could see the speed slowly decrease on the speedometer, but there was still that little issue of getting the car to a complete stop. I had full control now. But there was another issue of never having driven a car before. Soon I was rocketing down the middle of Marine Harbor. People pointed at the car as I went by. Then I could see it, we were running out of road, now there was the open ocean before me. You would never see me hit something with my foot harder than I hit that brake pedal or close my eyes as hard in the face of a horrible crash.

All I was concentrated on was the screech coming from the tires. My back was arched and I was pushing on the wheel like I wanted to break it. My pulse was racing and I was so scared out of my mind that I didn't even recognize the screeching stopped. I heard a car door open and then a voice call out to me.

"Hey kid! Your all right! Kid! Open your eyes!"

When I did, I saw I was a couple inches away from the guard rails. I relaxed and looked over to see a lady wearing a frog hat or something with a microphone in her hand. She looked over the car excitedly and turned to a man with a camera behind her.

"Ribitta here! On the scene with live, thrilling conclusion of the out of control car that just left ACDC Town!" 

Then I fainted.


	5. Chapter 5: Switching Sides

-Mega Man Battle Network

--Shadows of the Past

---Chapter 5: Switching Sides

__

"Ladies and gentlemen, our top story tonight is a recent virus attack sending a car speeding out of control. Witnesses reported the vehicle running red lights, tearing through people's lawn and treating the highway like a rally race. It was only until the vehicle reached Marine Harbor when it stopped inches from plummeting into the ocean."

I reached for the remote. Had to. Turn off. Tv now.

"Official NetBattlers investigating the incident have not released the name of the lone victim who was trapped in the car as it went on it's rampage. But we have received news that the victim is in good condition and suffered no critical wounds."

Click. Good, now I didn't have to hear another word of that nightmare yesterday. As of now, I was sitting in a Dencity Hospital Room waiting a follow up to see if there was any injuries I didn't know about. Well, my parents insisted it anyway. Right off, the four guys from school visited me to talk about it all. They weren't aloud to say much, but I could tell that each one of them knew who put the virus in my dad's car. Same people who tried to smother Lan. This hero bit wasn't looking to good anymore.

The room was the usual hospital room. White, really white, and quiet. The people went as far as to put me in one of those hospital gowns. One of the better parts was leaving my PET next to me on a table as I sat in the bed. Shadow Man looked much like his old self and was glad that I was ok. I had no idea how long I sat there when the door opened up and a doctor came in. Whoa, he looked really funky for a doctor. Bright red hair and a goatee to add on top of it. Still, he had an ID and everything.

The red haired guy came in the room and had his back to me as he picked up some x-rays and lifted them to the light. I couldn't make anything out, but he did one of those hums like he was examining something really important.

"Well Mr. Rioichi. You are a very fortunate individual. You have only suffered a torn ligament in your right leg."

"What? A torn ligament?" I was pretty surprised, but mostly because his voice sounded awfully familiar.

"Yes, it seems you slammed on the brake so hard you tore it."

That's when he turned around and I instantly got a bad feeling from him. The guy looked down right devious. His smirk was just unbearable. I heard the door lock automatically and he threw the x-rays onto a nearby table pretty carelessly.

"You know kid. Your also very unlucky." He added. "It's very unfortunate you would get a PET like the one you have there."

"Hey..." I said weakly. "Your not a doctor are you?"

He nodded and sat down at the edge of my bed putting his hands together and sighing. Oh my god! He was the operator of Fire Man! That's where I heard is voice from before! I was in a room with a criminal! With a broken leg! Then his name came flying back to me. Mr. Match.

"God! It's you! Mr. Match! Your the guy with Fire Man!" I yelled out "Someone help me!"

"Shut up!" He snapped at me. "No ones going to hear you. Even if they did, you'd be safe. But your parents wouldn't be. Besides, Fire Man is history. I got Heat Man now."

No. Please no. Now he was threatening my parents. I had to keep my mouth shut now. I didn't really feel like challenging this guy. I knew what he was capable of.

"What do you want?" I asked after a long uncomfortable pause.

"What do I want? Oh, nothing really. I just wanted to pass some information down to you. Have you ever heard of the WWW?"

"World Wide Watchers?"

This caused him to laugh out hysterically. He was laughing at my stupidity. That could be the only reason why he found it so funny.

"No no. That is merely a cover, notice the three W's in the name. What it really stands for is World 3. You see kid, you've stumbled into our operations. And because of that, your receiving a lot of our personal attention."

"Like that Turbo Man guy?"

He nodded and stood up heading toward my PET. I went to grab it when I saw him move but he was way to quick and snatched it up. There was instant tension in the room as he looked it over pressing some buttons. Eventually he put it at his side and looked back toward me.

"Do you know who this used to belong to kid?"

"Mr. Dark?" I replied uncomfortably.

"Did you know what he did for a living?" Mr. Match asked with a grin forming on his face.

"A mercenary..."

"A mercenary who used Shadow Man here to wipe out an entire country. Yumland. You've never heard of it have you? That's because Shadow Man deleted every single person who ever lived in Yumland. He deleted them all."

He threw the PET to me but I jumped back in fear of it now. That was what the auctioneer didn't tell me? Shadow Man wiped out some country on the net? What the hell was I doing with it? All those times... He was a killer. It made sense now. That's why he was so good against the measly Metool virus and that's why he hung Guts Man out to dry. And he got smashed by Fire Man cause he never crossed the people he worked with. Oh my god, what the hell was I doing with it!

"Your... your..." I stuttered.

Mr. Match let out a low laugh seeing I couldn't even get out the words to respond to him.

"Lying? Stupid kid." He laughed out again.

I wanted to say that, but what would be the point of lying to myself. Before Shadow Man could say anything I switched the PET off and threw it to the ground. I heard it clatter to a stop as it went under a table. Mr. Match slid his hands in his pockets and could only smile like there was no tomorrow.

"Well, now that we've gotten that out of the way. Now, tell your dad when you get home, that if you don't donate 1,000,000 zenny to a World Wide Watchers account that something very bad will happen to your family every day until you do pay."

"Hey! I didn't do anything..."

"Shut the hell up!" Mr. Match turned nasty. "You saved that brat Lan and you nearly deleted Turbo Man. Believe me, you've done plenty to deserve this."

I stuttered uncontrollably. Mr. Match waited patiently as I tried to think of some excuse. Something to make him go away and change his mind. But there was nothing, he was right, I had done plenty to earn their wrath.

"We don't have that kind of money!" I told him weakly.

"That's not my problem. That's yours." Mr. Match pointed out calmly.

"Damn! Come on... Please..."

With that he turned away and began to leaving heading toward the door. My mind was racing, I had to do something. Even if my father worked every day for the rest of his life I don't think we could recover from losing so much money. Then something snapped, I got angry.

"Stop! I'll make it up to you!" I cried out furiously.

Mr. Match stopped instantly and slowly turned around with his patented cocky grin. His hand lowered from the door knob and then he crossed his arms waiting for me to speak up.

"I'll... I'll..." I didn't want to say it. "I can get you a semi truck full of battle chips."

He wasn't impressed and turned back toward the door.

"Rare chips!" I tried harder.

"We all ready had someone like that. He was useless."

"Chips meant for Official NetBattlers!"

Ok, I now felt downright disgusted with myself. That was my dad's job. He worked for a shipping company. That's why we moved to ACDC Town, he was to oversee a huge shipment of battle chips to the NetBattler headquarters in Marine Harbor. But it was only chips, and that trade off was worth my family's life and livelihood. This managed to get Mr. Match away from the door and he took a seat next to the bed.

"Start talking." He commanded pointing a finger at me.

"My dad, he works for a shipping company. He tells me his jobs because he wants me to follow in his footsteps. That's why I moved here in the first place... I can get you in... I can get the chips for you myself."

He immediately got the drift of my explanation. What's that phrase? If you can't beat them, join them? I wasn't taking any more of this crap from him. I was going to make sure the WWW was never going to bother with me or my family ever again. This would be the perfect trade off.

"I have to run the idea by my boss. But... If everything is a go. We'll contact you."

The door unlocked and Mr. Match gave a nod before leaving the room. Slowly, I got out of the bed and hobbled up to the table where I had thrown my PET. I turned it back on and looked down at Shadow Man.

"Rio! What's going on? What did he do to you?" Shadow Man asked.

"Nothing's wrong." I told Shadow Man. "We've just had a... job offer. That's all."

"Rio! Don't do this!" He ordered me. "Your betraying everyone you know!"

"Nothing's wrong." I repeated a bit all too coldly. 

If I didn't know better, I think he backed away from the screen in surprise. Why was he surprised? I'm not the one with the mysterious past. I'm not the professional assassin. If my Navi was designed to delete things, then let's delete things. I could feel tears forming around my eyes. What the hell had Mr. Match done to me? I was becoming heartless. I was no better than Turbo Man or anyone else who had hacked before.

"Rio, please listen to me. I might have done terrible things like he said. But that doesn't mean I have to do it again!"

My facial expression must have explained it all because he eventually lowered his head and nodded.

"I can't..." I stuttered. "I can't let them hurt my parents. They can do it, you understand. They can do it. Like they almost did to me."

"There has to be another way. We have to tell someone-"

"No!" I yelled cutting him off. "This is what I have to do. When the WWW gets the chips, they won't have to worry about me anymore."

"Rio, listen very carefully." Shadow Man began calmly. "They won't let you go. If you do this for them, they'll find another reason to come back. They'll force you to do it again and again until your just as dishonorable as they are."

I glared at him. He didn't know. They wouldn't bother with a kid like me again. And I wasn't being stupid. What could they possibly want me to do after this job? Nothing, that's what.

"With the little memory I still have from my past. I _know_ that's what will happen. And Rio, if you don't pull through and get them the chips. Do you know what will happen then? Because I remember all too clearly what happened to Mr. Dark when he failed."

He was lying... he was lying... He was... He couldn't possibly...


	6. Chapter 6: The Electopian Job, Part 1

-Mega Man Battle Network

--Shadows of the Past

---Chapter 6: The Electopian Job, Part 1

_Employment Opportunity_

Greetings future employee of the World Wide Watchers. We've decided to invite you to our corporate headquarters to discuss your working hours. The address is enclosed. This requires your immediate attention. We await your arrival.

-World Wide Watchers Inc.

Yeah, that was the e-mail I got a couple of days after I got back from the hospital. It was a Sunday, and since immediate was underlined I made up an excuse that I needed to go for a school project and headed toward the address enclosed in the e-mail. It was some factory outside Dencity. It would take me a bus ride, and walking several blocks before I came up on the dusty factory gates. A faded sign hanging over the main entrance read "World Wide Watchers". The WWW's front for the time being.

There was a camera hanging from a street light and once it stared at me for a couple minutes. A green light switched on under the lens causing the gate to slowly roll open. I was shaking by the time I made it to the factory entrance. When I grabbed the knob for the door, Shadow Man spoke up and nearly scared me half to death.

"Rio... Please..."

I didn't respond and entered finding a long hallway with a heavy looking security door. It began to open as I approached and I entered the room it protected. This room was completely opposite of the derelict factory setting outside. It had a long furnished table, comfy chairs, and complete with a big screen. At the far end of the table sat Mr. Match, a woman, and a man who all looked at me with cocky faces, enjoying my helpless position.

"Rioichi, come on down. Sit right here." Mr. Match pointed to a seat next to him. "I want to introduce you to Madd and ide."

They all had to be fake names if they were giving them to me like this. Madd had a pretty wild hairdo, her hair put up into pom poms or something. She was pretty causal wearing a yellowish outfit and sneakers. Burnside wore a leather jacket with slick black hair and looked like a professional racer. He had to be Turbo Man's operator. There was no doubt. I took a seat and just continued to listen.

"Look, he's a loss for words." Madd teased me.

"Don't be like that Rio. It's either this or rather unfortunate circumstances befalling your parents. This way no one gets hurt." Mr. Match encouraged. "Now, the boss has liked this idea and now we're going to set it all up."

Basically what followed next was me spilling my guts to the people who were threatening me. The truck was going to begin in a warehouse next to an antique shop in Dencity. It was going filled to the brim with battle chips. All kinds. Rare ones, basic ones, everything under the roof. The big semi would be escorted by some Official NetBattler cruisers to the Center where my dad had been visiting for awhile where they would unload and finish the job. I felt sorry for my dad. He wanted to make me proud and told me every detail... He put so much trust in me...

"Well, you said you would do it. So what's your plan?" Mr. Match asked after my presentation.

"The guys driving the truck are from my dad's company. They know who I look like. They'll probably just think I'm visiting. I'll be easy to jack Shadow Man into the control systems while they are loading. I just need to know where to bring the truck."

"BZZZZ! Wrong!" Burnside shouted out suddenly. "You can't let the officials escorting the truck following you. So it'll clearly call for some WWW know how."

"I've had previous experiences with traffic signals." Ms. Madd explained. "That'll slow some of the escort cars down."

"Burnside, you can provide some moving barriers with Turbo Man can't you?" Mr. Match asked leaning back in his seat.

"That's a big 10-4. Heh heh. It'll be like stealing super programs from an oven. Instantaneous."

They all began to talk amongst themselves making adjustments here and more planning there. I just took it all in like Mr. Match told me too. From the looks of it, he was the coordinator and the other two were simply there for help. Me? I was the insider. It wasn't long until I learned that Madd's Navi was Color Man, so it made sense he would be hacking traffic signal codes. I was right on about Turbo Man's operator and Burnside planned to steal some cars, infect them with viruses and make them moving missiles.

"All right Rioichi. You come down to the warehouse tomorrow. We'll e-mail you when we're ready."

"Wait. Tomorrow? But, I have to go to school tomorrow! How am I going to get out of that?"

"Tell them you haven't recovered from your car scare yet." Burnside winked.

I wanted to smack him so hard... But if I did, I probably wouldn't hear the end of it. Right now my goal was to cooperate as fully as I could with these guys until this was over. Slowly, I nodded and stood up going to leave. It would be all over soon... Soon... But it didn't help me sleep, the night was rough and every so often I would wake up for no good reason just staring up at the ceiling. What a messy situation I was in. It was so messy that I was stuck by myself.

The next morning was Monday, and I generally enjoyed Mondays. Since I didn't sleep too well, I had gotten up before my parents. Helped myself to breakfast and then took the earliest bus ride down to Dencity. I still hadn't got any e-mails from them so I decided to kill some time at the antique shop next to the warehouse before the truck showed up.

"Rio, please. Just walk away from this right now. Tell the NetBattlers, just don't do this." Shadow Man tried to reason with me. "Don't you remember what I told you before?"

"No." I lied to him. "So shut up about it."

"You are troubled, aren't you?" I heard a voice call out to me from the backroom of the shop.

The next thing I saw was a girl come out from the back carrying a chest and setting it down on the floor somewhere behind the counter. She wore a scarf of some kind on her head with a skull on it. The rest of her clothes were pretty dark looking, kinda reminded me of a fortune teller or something. But I wasn't concerned about that, I was concerned about the fact that she might have overheard something.

"Who are you?" I demanded.

"The shop owner, Miyu. Who are you?"

"The troubled one." I answered sarcastically.

"Sarcasm implies weakness." She answered simply. "Skull Man and I know all about that."

Hmm maybe she was on to something... No. I don't think so. How could I be weak going through all this torture provided by the WWW? I wasn't the strongest person, but I deserved some credit. I sighed admitting it without saying it. She smiled slightly, but only for mere seconds. She was awful creepy.

"So what are you hiding from?" She asked again.

"Really nosy questions." I countered, we weren't getting out on the right foot I could tell.

"Well you certainly like hiding from people who can help you."

Now she was really ticking me off. I wish she could just sit there and watch me look over her antiques instead of interrogating me. I turned away from her and looked out the window trying to spot the truck when it showed up. But Miyu there still wouldn't keep quiet.

"Is there anything you would like to tell me?" She asked this time rather gently.

"No. Just... leave me alone."

"Oh you are alone. You are very alone. Alone with one's enemies." She told me in a low voice.

I sighed again and slowly turned around before walking up to her counter and leaning forward.

"Look, I'm being a jerk, that's obvious. I've never met you before, I've actually just moved here. But if we don't stop talking... I could be in trouble, I mean my family could be in trouble." I explained bleakly.

This time she didn't say anything and just stared at me. Maybe I scared her? No, that didn't seem right. She freaked me out plenty and all I was doing was listening. Eventually, I turned around back toward the door just in time to see the truck roll up next to the warehouse. I exited the antique shop. Now they would begin loading, and just before they finished, I would put Shadow Man into the truck controls. Then he notified me of an e-mail. Well a couple.

_Ready, One of Three_

Hello, Inferno here. Just wanted to tell you that I've gone to see a movie or two before the real show starts.

-Inferno

Also known as Mr. Match, I thought to myself. He must be talking about the movie theater down the street.

_Set, Two of Three_

Hey kid. I got ready for today early so with my extra time I went across the street to have some lunch.

-Picasso

Madd who was probably sitting at the restaurant ready to cause chaos with the traffic lights.

_Go, Three of Three_

Whoa! I had a rough night at the track so I checked out a hotel room. It's a really nice hotel, I got a room facing the intersection and everything. Ready, Set, Go, kid.

-Andretti

Burnside most likely, looking out the window of a building. And with that I was off toward the truck. Reading over the e-mails took enough of my time to make me catch the truck at a perfect time. The two guys loading the truck were dressed in blue suits of the shipping company and moved a rhythmic pace. Just before I reached them, some guy in a gray uniform stopped me on the street. An Official NetBattler, damn!

"Excuse me. What are you doing?" He asked me harshly.

"Rioichi! Hey guys! Look, it's Mr. Lon's son! Let him through Richards." One of the men called out spotting me.

Whew, that was close. But at least my prediction held true. The NetBattler went across the street and back into a cruiser. I moved up to the men and recognized one of them. Larry was a friend of my dad. He was a heavily built guy but really nice. He came over all sorts of times at my old town. Larry was always recognized easily because of his long black beard. Inside I was glad to see him, but there was also another dagger driven through my heart that I was going to lie to him too.

"What's going on Rioichi? Or do you still like to be called Rio?" He greeted me cheerfully.

"Yeah it's Rio. Is this that big shipment my dad was telling me about?" I gestured to the back where there was a huge amount of boxes stacked up.

"Sure is. This is a major investment. It'll be great for everyone when we've delivered it. It's also very top secret yes?" He nudged me.

"Yeah... Say, can I look at the place where you drive the truck?"

"Sure can," He responded with a smile. "But would you know it. Electopia is so smart they have autopilot for most vehicles so the truck drives itself!"

I think I looked sick when I turned away from him and climbed into the truck cab. I saw the jack-in port and put Shadow Man into the truck network. He just stood there and turned toward me.

"Last chance Rio." He told me.

"You do what I tell you to!" I hissed at him. "Kill the autopilot, take control of the truck, now!"

He lowered his head but eventually nodded drawing his sword and moving up to the green human looking programs that made up the truck autopilot and controls. In a constant graceful motion, he deleted all the programs with in seconds. They didn't even know what hit them. I looked up to see Madd on the corner, she had moved position and was skillfully jacking into the traffic system without anyone noticing. I heard the back close up and I looked down at Shadow Man.

"Go!"

The trucks wheels spun furiously as it began to move away from Larry and the other mover. The NetBattlers instantly jumped into their patrol cars once seeing the truck take off without the guys in it. I had a head start and as soon as I got through the intersection, the lights went haywire and signaled green in all directions. Cars began to pile up screeching to a stop and creating an impenetrable blockade for the patrol cars. I couldn't help but smile knowing I had gotten away with it. It was over between me and the WWW.

The next light was normal and I told Shadow Man to act calm now. He had full control of the truck, but looked like he was ashamed of himself or something. I looked away angrily. This is what he was designed for! Why wasn't he happy?

"Why are you so down? We got away didn't we? Well didn't we?"

"Take a look to your left." He muttered.

When I did so, I could see Lan, Yai, Mayl and Dex all staring at me from across the street. They stood in front of a museum of some kind. Oh hell, I forgot. Fieldtrip today. That freaky girl from the antique shop, Miyu, pointed at me while muttering something to them. Some of them were using their PETs for some reason. But all of them looked utterly shocked beyond disbelief. Lan and Mayl looked the most... I can't say that... I wasn't really... _betraying _them... Not by my own choices... Was I? I soon heard the passenger door open and Mr. Match got in.

"Great work kid! Great work! Now, let's go back to the factory."

"Right..." I responded through my teeth.

That's when we heard sirens. NetBattler patrol cars were beginning to head toward us from directly ahead. I looked back to Miyu with a furious expression. She told them! They knew everything and they notified the officials! They blew this whole operation! We... I was going to get caught! Through my anger I didn't notice Mr. Match jack in and put his Navi Heat Man into the truck systems.

"What are you doing?"

"The heat is on now. The WWW needs some professionals on the job."

Almost instantly, Shadow Man turned the controls on over to the box looking Navi Heat Man. He looked more frightening than Fire Man. Most of his body was made of flames. The truck roared to life and began to take off pushing the cars in front of us to the side. I could hear yelling now, Lan and the rest of them were trying to sprint across the street yelling out to me. There was no way of telling if they were angry or shocked but I didn't care. They... They ruined everything! EVERYTHING!


	7. Chapter 7 Finale: The Electopian Job, Pa...

-Mega Man Battle Network

--Shadows of the Past

---Chapter 7: The Electopian Job, Part 2

It didn't take long before we were in a high speed chase with the Officials patrol cars. But Heat Man was just down right reckless running cars off the road and trashing light poles and everything! I wanted to jack Shadow Man out of the truck systems, but Mr. Match told me to hold on. Why? They weren't going to get into the truck system as we ran everything off the road.

I cringed watching the patrol cars get up along side us, because Heat Man promptly rammed them from the side with the massive truck and nearly crushed them between the buildings and the trailer. The worst was when one got to our left and the truck just swerved back from hitting another car. When the car on the left was crunched, it was driven up the wall and was flipped.

"Heh heh! The WWW isn't going soft anytime soon!" Mr. Match laughed.

He then looked down to his PET.

"Hey Burnside! Get your suicide vehicles out here! We need help!"

As far as I could tell, we were just rampaging around Dencity while being chased. We would only really disappear when all the patrol cars were scrapped. This was out of control, if only... if only Miyu kept her mouth shut! A terrible screech snapped me out of my daze as a couple expensive looking cars started heading right toward us. I didn't have to see what happened to know what did. Needless to say, there was no one following us after a horrible crunching of metal.

Mr. Match was laughing hysterically. Even more so when I thought WWW stood for World Wide Watchers. But he soon stopped when another car pulled up to our side. We both looked out to see a grayish car pull up, it was them. Lan, Dex, Mayl, and this semi white haired guy. I looked away from the window in order to avoid my making eye contact and instead looked to Mr. Match.

"Please, don't!" I demanded.

"Too bad your friends had to get involved." He answered simply. "Heat Man! Turn them into scrap metal!"

"I can't!" Heat Man whinnied. "We have company!"

We both looked down at our PETs to see that Mega Man, Roll, Guts Man, and this red Navi had somehow made it into the truck network... But how? There was no way they were in there all ready... Mr. Match promptly answered the question.

"Damn! They have a wireless! Probably threw it onto the back of the truck. Well, no matter, delete them all!"

"Shadow Man... There's no way we can get caught... There's too much at risk here!" I told him.

I tightened my grip on the PET watching the whole thing unfold as it was now two on four. Shadow Man and Heat Man against all. Mega Man was there and simply raised his arm cannon at Shadow Man.

"I can't believe I fell for it. Your using Rio aren't you!" Mega Man demanded.

"I can only do... What my operator tells me too." He answered slowly.

"Humph." The red Navi's operator spoke up. "I knew it was a waste of time reformatting your PET. Mr. Dark was as ruthless as they come. Your no different. To think you could lead a legal life is laughable."

"I'm with Chaud." Guts agreed.

"Shut up!" I yelled out at all of them. "Your ruining everything! Everything! You don't know what's involved. If you just jack-out and quit following us, it would all work out!"

You couldn't believe how angry I was. I was nearly screaming at the top of my lungs. Mr. Match gave an encouraging laugh.

"Yeah, you might never know what will happen should this truck not arrive at a certain destination at a certain time." Mr. Match told them. "Now, back off!"

They didn't and instead got into a fighting stance. I didn't care anymore. I had to delete them all. Every last one of them. Heat Man couldn't be touched, I made that perfectly clear to Shadow Man.

"Shadow Man! Take them all out! Don't let them get a step near Heat Man!"

He paused and shook his head. I soon yelled out again.

"Did you hear what I said!"

"Yes... Master Rio."

There wasn't anything you could have done at that point to hit me harder than that right there. Now I just sat back in the seat and watched, I was dumbstruck and Mr. Match had begun to concentrate on the road taking control of the truck as Heat Man was going to be fighting most likely.

"You can give up." Proto Man said flatly.

"I have to protect my operator." Shadow Man told them slowly drawing his sword.

"Proto Man, Guts Man. You got Heat Man... Roll and I will get Shadow Man." Mega Man told them all.

"Fine with me."

"YEEHHHAAAA! Let's go stop this rolling wreck, Dex!" Guts Man declared before charging off.

But before they knew it, Shadow Blades landed at their feet and they went nowhere. To make things even, Shadow Man did his split technique and now things were a little bit more even. Mega Man opened fire but hit air as the three darted from side to side, pouncing from here to there, making their way closer to their targets. Roll was one, and I really didn't see any fighting material within her. But she raised her hand and shouted something out. The whole network was blinded by a flash and soon the real Shadow Man was easily picked out between the two copies.

What the hell was this? Now the real Shadow Man was marked and the other two were given no attention. But the two copies could be easily used as shields and took hits as Guts Man smacked the floor with his fists creating a shockwave. Proto Man was at a slight disadvantage having no projectile attacks, but had a really durable shield to use though. Shadow Blades flew in every direction. One clipped Guts Man in the arm slicing it off and soon he ran towards Roll. Oh yes, I remember what she did best now.

Apparently Shadow Man did as well and soon threw something to the ground. It looked like a wick was burning as it snaked along the ground closing in on Guts Man and soon connected. An explosion sent Guts Man tumbling head over heels into Roll and he was soon jacked out. Now there was only three left. But it was then Mega Man managed to nail Shadow with a charged shot sending him rolling backwards.

But he recovered quickly leaping up nimbly and soon putting his hands together. That was when two copies appeared, but they were ghost white and easily to pick out. What was this now? What ever it was, they were apparently indestructible and took shot after shot from Mega Man's arm cannon. Roll tried to defend herself with bomb battle chips, but the phantasms were unaffected and soon one lashed out with as sword getting Roll across the face.

I didn't look away for some reason and watched as she crumbled to the ground in a heap. I couldn't tell if she was deleted or jacked out but it apparently gave Mega Man new incentive to fight and he was all over Shadow Man, breaking away from the phantasms and firing away. This kind of reckless behavior was the kind of behavior my Navi thrived on. He was better off firing blindfolded. Shadow Man closed in on Mega Man leaping behind him and bringing his sword up to drive it down for a final blow.

But he didn't. Instead he just stood there as if frozen and then I saw why. Proto Man had begun to drive his sword into him and soon he arched back in pain yelling out in agony. He fell to his knees but kept himself up with his sword glaring angrily at Mega Man who now pointed a cannon in his face. Battle chips. Damn, I had still not been able to get any of those.

"How did... you beat my... Phantasms?" Shadow Man choked out.

"Swords, or have you forgotten?" Proto Man explained.

"I don't remember you... That's why... I underestimated you..." He groaned painfully. "Why... Mega Man... Did you hold back? Little bits of memory the reformatting couldn't cover brought back memories of you... Vicious, unstoppable fighting spirit..."

Mega Man lowered his cannon and kneeled down to get eye level with Shadow Man. Proto Man soon walked up next to him and looked down at them both with his sword at the ready

"Because Miyu told Lan that your operator was troubled. Proto Man didn't care, but we didn't want to delete you if there was something at stake other than the chips."

My stomach dropped and I felt sick. They were trying to help me... And I didn't even see it. I thought they were trying to... Ah... I felt so sick...

"Well Rio... I hope your happy... I did my best... Repeated my past for you... And it's gotten me the same result." He took a deep painful breath. "Rio... This is mortifying."

This was deja vu for me as Shadow Man began to explode into deleted data and faded away from the screen. Well... I deserved it... Mr. Match glared at me angrily and looked down at his PET before jacking Heat Man out of the system and opening the passenger door.

"What are you doing?" I asked him silently.

"Your plan is going up in smoke, so you can burn along with it!" He yelled over the roaring wind.

Soon I could hear a car roar up next to us on Match's side. It was a convertible and Burnside was driving with Madd in the passenger seat. In a near suicidal move, Match jumped out and into the back seat as the convertible began to roar away from the truck. It wasn't long till we stopped now as the truck was pulled to the side of the road by the autopilot. When it came to a complete stop, I opened the door and got out before collapsing next to the front tire.

In a twist of irony, we had circled back around to the front of the museum and all the students from our class could see me from across the street. Yes, Shadow Man, this _is_ mortifying. If only I had listened to you. The first person to walk up to me was Chaud. He looked down at me in an emotionless expression and simply shook his head.

"Give me your PET kid." He ordered me.

Without saying a word I handed to him slowly and kept my head directed at the ground. I could hear some buttons clicking and soon a chip sliding into something. Eventually Chaud dropped it at my feet and moved toward the back of the truck. I didn't even pick it up but I could near more footsteps. I didn't want to look up at them and I didn't have to, their shadows told me everything I needed to see.

"We're not angry at you Rio." I heard Lan first. "The WWW has made plenty of people do crazy stuff."

How did they know it was the WWW? Anyway, I still wasn't going to say anything.

"You'll feel bad now, but when this is all cleared up you'll be fine." Mayl encouraged.

"Uh... it was a good battle..." Dex told me weakly.

I think Chaud returned and was heading toward me, but Lan moved in front of him and spread his arms. The shadows on the ground continued to show me everything I didn't want to see with my own eyes.

"Hey Chaud! Leave Rio alone, he didn't do anything!" Lan defended.

"Get out of the way Lan, your friend there is going down for sure. That's unquestionable." Chaud demanded. "I'm going to arrest him now."

"But he was threatened!"

"Humph. Where's the proof? Cause it looks clear that he fully cooperated with the hijacking."

Another group of shadows moved into my view, it was Yai and Miyu.

"Does World Wide Watchers Inc. sound familiar to you Chaud?" Yai began. "It's a front for the WWW. My father checked it out himself. And if I'm not mistaken, he pays a lot of taxes that makes up your paycheck."

Chaud kind of mumbled, I didn't really hear him. Yai crossed her arms and moved in front of him adding a person to the barrier protecting me.

"Yeah!" Dex spoke up. "And he was nearly killed in a virus attack! He was definitely threatened for his life. Maybe even his parents life!"

Ok, now something was going on. I couldn't figure it out but there was no way Dex could get that right on a guess in a million years. I don't care how smart you think he is...

"He even confessed to me that if I continued to speak to him in my shop that something... unfortunate might happen to him or his family." Miyu explained calmly.

"Yeah! So back off Chaud!" Lan finished.

Chaud crossed his arms and eventually turned around toward the other NetBattlers that were now coming over the truck to estimate any possible losses.

"Do you want to get up now? Or should we volunteer Dex to help you?" Yai told me roughly.

"Fine." I responded weakly. "I'm getting up."

"That's better. You know you should be a lot more thankful. We just kept you from getting arrested." She continued to badger me.

"Yai!" Mayl snapped. "Be easy on Rio, he's been through a lot lately. I'm sure this is pretty hard on you."

"After that car incident, the next thing I know there's a WWW operator demanding I give him money, or he'll hurt me or my family. We don't have the funds... So I... I cut a deal with him. Anything so we wouldn't be hurt."

"We know." Lan answered simply.

I looked at them dumbfounded. How did they know? Was this all some big sick joke they were all in on to see if I was a criminal or... What the hell was going on! I kind of fell back a little uneasy and looked at them all in shock.

"How did you know? I didn't tell anyone."

"Shadow Man was sending us e-mails as you slept. He tried to get us to help you out. But we were all kind of uneasy toward the idea because of what he did last time." Mayl explained.

"In other words we didn't trust Shadow Man, or you." Yai cut in.

"Yai!" They all shouted at her.

"Well you don't have to sugar coat everything. Tell him the truth. Or I'll tell him my version." She threatened.

"Yeah so. We saw you in the truck and instantly knew the truth then." Lan admitted. "But you took off so quickly... We had to flag down Chaud who was hell bent on taking you down."

I glanced down at my PET on the ground and slowly kneeled to pick it up. It was so lifeless without Shadow Man.

"He... he was helping me... So I... I uh... I deleted him for it." I realized painfully.

"Don't say it like that..." Lan began.

"Like Yai said," I interrupted. "You can't sugar coat everything. With Mr. Dark in prison, there's no way I'll ever get him back... He's the only one who knew how to program him."

But something clicked back on and I finally noticed a little status bar at the bottom of the screen. Back up data? What the hell. I didn't have any back up data... Then I turned back toward Chaud who was nowhere to be seen.

"I don't believe that guy..." I muttered.

"What?" They all seemed pretty confused.

"He took my PET. I assumed he was going to take it, and he threw it back... He's restoring Shadow Man..." I realized.

"Well, Chaud can be like that." Lan explained to me.

Among those streets, with my friends, and my soon to be recovered friend. I felt like everything was going to work out. And I wouldn't have to worry about Mr. Match or the WWW for a long time. I certainly wasn't going to put Shadow Man or myself through anything mortifying again anytime soon.

--End Transmission


End file.
